UTRGV chess teams won first and second place Oct. 20 at the 2018 Texas Collegiate Super Finals in Lubbock.
Team A won the first-place plaque and consisted of Kamil Dragun, a management sophomore; Andrey Stukopin, a mathematics senior; Vladimir Belous, a finance sophomore; and Hovhannes Gabuzyan, a computer science freshman.
Team B won the second-place plaque and consisted of Carlos Hevia, a computer science senior; Guillermo Vazquez, a computer science senior; Joshua Ruiz, a computer science senior; Felix Ynojosa, a finance junior; and an alternate player, Yannick Rajesh Kambrath, a computer engineering junior.
Chess Coach Bartek Macieja said the team was optimistic about winning.
“I believe that our team had, probably, best chances,” Macieja said. “What, however, surprised me very much was that our B team finished second. … Finishing second, that was a huge surprise … to everybody but the guys were really focused on the tournament.”
Macieja also mentioned there was trouble getting to the competition, which might have affected the players.
“We had some problems during the travel there,” he said, noting that the first flight was canceled and the second was delayed. “At one point, we didn’t know whether we would make it, even or not, due to the weather condition.”
Gabuzyan participated in the tournament for the first time and liked it because UTRGV had a strong team.
“We were preparing,” he said. “Our goal was to win the tournament and we succeeded. … It’s always useful to play some tournaments and to, like, increase your skills.”
He later added his feelings about winning first place.
“It’s always [a] pleasure to play good during tournament, especially, like, representing a university,” Gabuzyan said. “All of my teammates are my good friends.”
Hevia said their expectations were always to win, and he prepared by playing tournaments beforehand with the other team members. Due to the travel issues, he said they arrived tired, but in the end, everything was fine.
Macieja also spoke about how this year’s experience was different with the addition of Alexander Mista, the new program manager.
“We just have second employee who helped me a lot because I could focus then on the tournament and on the preparations,” Macieja said.
Mista is also a grandmaster and accompanied the team to the Texas Super Finals.
“He helped also a lot because, you know, in addition to pure chess preparation, pure skills, what is important also is a very good level of organization of the team,” he said. “… When we are two, me and Alex, we are able to provide our students with optimal conditions.”
Macieja hopes that the tournament results will encourage students to join the chess program.
The chess team will now focus on the Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship, which will take place in December.
“This is going to be a really strong competition,” Hevia said. “We have to beat two of the, I mean, two of the best teams of the nation.”
“Our goal at the Pan-Ams is to be in top four,” Macieja said. “Even though we are winning, like, everything right now, that will not be simple to qualify to Final Four. … We have to make our job well. We have to be prepared.”
